A collection of this, that and the downright strange …

Update – Chemical incident at health club began in men’s sauna

A chemical incident at Feildways Hotel and Health Club began inside the men’s sauna after a mystery ‘ammonia-based liquid’ was poured onto the hot coals. The complex was evacuated and five people were treated at the scene by South West Ambulance on Tuesday afternoon. Ambulance services checked over and discharged victims suffering from headaches caused by exposure to the evaporated liquid containing ammonia. Fire services and hazardous materials experts discovered the chemical incident was a result a plume of vapour containing the chemical often found in cleaning products escaping into the changing rooms from the sauna. The coals were taken outside by the emergency services and further testing confirmed that they were the source of the incident. Jason Moncreiff, a hazardous materials and items (HAZMAT) expert for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service, was at the facility on Hilperton Road, Trowbridge, as part of the team investigating the suspected chemical incident. He said: “Using a chlorine detector we found that the levels of chlorine were in the acceptable range. However we did see a high concentration of ammonia. Our investigations found that the gent’s sauna was the source of this.